FEMA elevation issue to top Palm Beach zoning reform

Friday

Palm Beach’s elected leaders are setting priorities as they wade into the regulatory swamp of zoning code reform.

The town must find a better way to adapt to tougher federal flood elevation requirements for new houses and other buildings, town officials say.

Those flood elevation requirements, mandated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for new construction and major renovations in the flood zones, will be the first priority in a much wider effort to reform the town’s zoning code, the Town Council decided recently.

RELATED: Zoning director’s departure is not the end of zoning reform.

Owners and developers are adding fill and retaining walls to their lots so new houses or major renovations meet tougher flood-plain elevation standards.

It is rapidly changing the character of streets while creating a bowl-like effect in which rainwater washes off the elevated lots and down onto neighboring properties, officials said.

RELATED: New FEMA flood maps to change minimum elevation for new construction.

“FEMA is huge,” Councilwoman Margaret Zeidman said atthe March 11 council meeting, when the board set priorities for town staff, consultants and the Planning and Zoning Commission to work on in the months ahead.

“We have to start with FEMA first,” Mayor Gail Coniglio said.

Josh Martin, who left his zoning director post last month to take a job in the private sector, had advised the town that the elevation issue is urgent. He suggested finding architectural solutions, in which builders elevate the ground floor of houses and other buildings without raising the lot.

Martin resigned not long after his choice of a consultant to help guide zoning reform, the Congress for the New Urbanism, withdrew from the project. CNU faced criticism from a few residents who questioned its motives and said it wasn’t a good fit for Palm Beach.

That has left town officials sorting through the wreckage, trying to piece together how to proceed with the enormous and complicated effort. Acting Zoning Director Wayne Bergman and Zoning Administrator Paul Castro told the council that a consultant’s help is essential if reform is to move forward.

The code was last overhauled in the 1970s, and has since become a patchwork of confusing and often outdated regulations that allow for larger houses that officials say are overshadowing nearby homes and changing the character of neighborhoods and the town.

The council recently asked Bergman and Castro to compile a list of the most pressing zoning issues, and the estimated cost of hiring professionals to help steer the process.

Tackling all 11 items on the list would cost more than $200,000, Bergman said. But the town has only about $60,000 budgeted for the entire reform project during the budget year that ends Sept. 30.

Beyond FEMA, other priorities include the possible use of a floor area ratio [FAR] formula to limit the sizes of houses relative to their lot sizes; refining side yard setback rules; and examining building height guidelines.

Councilwoman Julie Araskog said the FAR is the best tool for keeping the size of new houses or other buildings in check.

Councilwoman Bobbie Lindsay agreed that the zoning code must address the problem more effectively.

“Everybody is building to the maximum lot size,” she said. “… We are losing the charm and character of this town.”

Araskog said side setbacks need to be reconsidered because some houses are being built too close to their neighbors.

“We need to fix this,” Araskog said. “I don’t think we can wait two or three years.”

Lindsay said the town is going to see more requests to build homes above first-floor offices as the demand for office space continues to decrease in the digital age.

Current rules wrongly limit rooftop developments to a percentage of the lot size instead of a percentage of the building’s footprint, Lindsay said.

Coniglio and most council members strongly objected to a staff proposal to consider creating a zoning review board to hear development applications instead of the council. A zoning review board could greatly reduce the council’s work load and curtail the number of zoning variances.

Araskog said the idea offers a way to take politics out of the process. Having the council decide variance requests creates ethical conflicts for elected officials, she said. An applicant “may be a friend or political supporter” of a council member voting on the variance, she said.

But Coniglio said zoning applications, including variance requests, should be decided by elected officials of the town. A zoning review board would also face potential conflicts when its members’ friends or neighbors appear before it, she said.

Town Attorney John Randolph said another option would be to turn zoning applications over to a special magistrate. That would be a mistake, Coniglio responded.

“That will turn the community on its ear, that they would have someone who doesn’t live here determining their priorities,” she said.

Council President Danielle Moore warned against “cherry picking” changes in the zoning code, noting that the regulations are interconnected and require a comprehensive approach.

Castro said all of the ideas will go to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which will study them and make recommendations to the council.

Zoning Chairman Martin Klein said the commission is ready. “Trust in our ability,” he said.

Bergman said the staff will seek a consultant’s help.

“These are all great ideas,” he said. “We will need a professional planner on a lot of these.”